Updated Feb. 21
The family of a two-year-old boy who died after allegedly being left unattended in his babysitter’s vehicle have expressed frustration over the ongoing court proceedings.
Aimee Cotton of Oak Bluffs appeared in Dukes County Superior Court for a pre-trial hearing on Wednesday, and her curfew was not reinstated, despite a request by the prosecutor. The victim’s family said they feel unheard after the indicted suspect was exempted from the prosecutor’s request. Court records show she violated other pre-trial conditions days after her curfew was initially lifted in April last year.
Cotton pleaded not guilty in October after being indicted of manslaughter and reckless endangerment of a child in September. The incident occurred months earlier, in March, when Cotton allegedly left Frank ‘Frankie’ Edward Rodenbaugh unattended in her SUV for roughly three hours outside her home. He suffered hypothermia and died six days later.
At the hearing this week, the prosecutor on the case, Assistant District Attorney and Chief of Child Abuse and Vulnerable Victims at the Cape & Islands District Attorney’s (DA) Office Courtney Scalice, requested that the superior court adopt all bail conditions previously enacted in Edgartown District Court prior to Cotton’s indictment, specifically requesting that a curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. — which was lifted — be reinstated.
Harrison T. Barrow III, Cotton’s defense attorney, opposed the request, arguing that Cotton has complied fully with the current conditions.
Judge Wrenn ultimately declined to adopt the curfew, maintaining the current conditions. Family members of the victim attending the hearing subtly disapproved of the decision, shaking their heads and murmuring from the courthouse benches.
“Today was another profoundly difficult day in Dukes County Superior Court as we continue to seek justice for our beautiful two-year-old son, Frank ‘Frankie’ Edward Rodenbaugh,” said Matthew Rodenbaugh, Frankie’s father, in a statement shared with The Times. “The conditions-of-release portion of the hearing felt especially disheartening and dismissive.”
Matthew Rodenbaugh expressed frustration at the judge’s decision to forgo a curfew. He said Cotton had violated a condition while her case was still in district court and said that the prosecutor failed to notify the judge of those past violations at the pre-trial hearing on Wednesday.
“Most troubling was the Assistant District Attorney’s failure to bring to the Court’s attention the violations of pre-trial conditions that were already committed by Ms. Cotton. It left us feeling unheard, unsupported, and like this case simply isn’t being taken seriously,” Rodenbaugh said in the statement.
Rodenbaugh said in a message to The Times that early in April last year, prior to Cotton’s indictment, she violated a stay away and no contact order by attending a lacrosse game at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School that the family of the other victim, a one-year-old girl who survived but was left in the car with Frankie, were also attending. Rodenbaugh said the police were called.
According to Edgartown District Court records, Cotton’s curfew was lifted on April 1, but five days later, she violated her separate stay away condition. Her case was then transferred to the Falmouth District Court on April 7, where a pre-trial hearing for her violation occurred.
In an email from April 7, shared with The Times by Rodenbaugh, Stephanie Andrade, administrative assistant and victim witness advocate for the Cape & Islands District Attorney’s Office, confirmed Cotton was brought to the courthouse for violating her conditions at a lacrosse field.
According to Falmouth court records, Falmouth District Court Judge John M. Julian imposed additional conditions against Cotton on April 7, such as maintaining a 100-yard distance from victims and their families, to abide by a 6 pm to 6 am curfew, and to stay away from lacrosse games and practices regardless of location.
“In light of the situation on the lacrosse field this past weekend, Aimee was brought in on a violation of her conditions of release,” said Andrade in the email sent in April. “As we spoke about the SA/NC [stay away/no contact] is a violation of the conditions of release and need to be reported to local PD. They will write a report, and we will turn it over to probation for the violation.”
Falmouth court records, show however, that the curfew was “vacated” on April 25, meaning it was removed from Cotton’s conditions in the Falmouth courthouse.
Rodenbaugh said neither his family or the family of the one-year-old girl were notified of the hearing in Falmouth taking place, nor were they given an opportunity to speak or present anything to the judge or the DA at this hearing.
Matthew Rodenbaugh also said they were not made aware of the removal of a curfew from Cotton’s conditions until Nov. 9, after Cotton was seen at an off-Island hockey tournament by the one-year-old victim’s family again.
“Currently and for the past eight months, we are the only ones being punished. She is able to hold her kids, now travel off-Island and stay offIsland with them at sporting events. Events I’ll never be able to take Frankie to because of her actions,” wrote Matthew Rodenbaugh in a message to Andrade in November, that he shared with The Times. “We need to understand what if anything we can do to advocate for the space to heal, we are a small community, and she is still acting as a participating member of that community.”
When reached by The Times about the concerns raised by the Rodenbaughs, Katie Brunelle, Cape & Islands community outreach coordinator, initially said “We cannot make additional comment on this matter as it is a pending case.”
Later, Brunelle shared that the district attorney’s office was diligently working to “handle cases that come through its office with care, attention, and preparedness.”
“We will continue to pursue justice for Frankie within the confines of the law and will continue to share with his family whatever information is allowed by the law,” Brunelle wrote in a statement. “We are committed to ensuring that the family is informed, present and heard at important stages in the criminal case and ensure that victim services are engaged and available to the family. We welcome a continued dialogue with Frankie’s family to address their concerns and will continue to move forward in seeking justice for Frankie.”
At the courthouse on Wednesday, Scalice, the prosecutor, also shared that all the evidence used to compile the prosecution’s case has been turned over to the defense, including video and audio recordings, photographs, cell phone “dumps,” which are call and text records, and documents including police reports and copies of testimonies given during the indictment process.
The defense counsel will have time to review all of the evidence turned over by the commonwealth before Cotton’s next event in the Edgartown Courthouse, which is a status review hearing scheduled for April 27.
“It’s our intention that this is going to trial,” said Scalice inside the Edgartown Courthouse on Wednesday.
Rodenbaugh said his family feels there has been a consistent lack of preparation, follow through, urgency, and attention to detail from the district attorney’s office for Frankie’s case.
“We have had virtually no direct contact with the assistant district attorney handling the case since the indictment and no meaningful interaction with District Attorney Robert Galibois since Frankie’s celebration of life in May of 2025,” said Rodenbaugh in a statement shared with The Times. “There have been no check-ins, no updates, and no sense that this case, which we believe should be a top priority — is receiving the full attention and resources it deserves. We also have an April hearing scheduled with little understanding of its purpose or what to expect.”
Julie and Matthew Rodenbaugh, parents of Frankie filed their own civil complaint on Jan. 28 against Cotton, seeking up to $260,000 in damages for negligence, wrongful death, punitive damages, conscious pain and suffering, medical expenses, and compensation for the loss of the companionship, love, guidance, and affection they suffered due to the loss of their child.
“As Frankie’s parents, we cannot continue to feel unheard while Aimee appears to move through the community with very little accountability. We simply want to know how we can more effectively advocate for our son so that his case receives the seriousness, preparation, and urgency it deserves. We will not idly stand by,” Rodenbaugh said on behalf of his family in the statement. “Our goal is to honor Frankie’s memory and ensure no other family has to endure what we are living through. We remain deeply grateful to everyone in the Martha’s Vineyard community who has wrapped us in love and support over the past year.”
Editor’s note: Updated with a statement from the Cape & Islands District Attorney’s Office.
District Attorney Galibois and his office MUST do better.
Justice for Frank and his family!
I feel so much pain for Frankie and his family and I can’t believe the audacity of this person to show up at children’s events.
2 MONTHS to prepare ? Galbo ???lost my vote and A LOT of others- God bless the patience of Frankies family- my thoughts are with them-My grand father was Mass Attorney- General-lived in Oak Bluffs with 9 well loved children-Clare Sr.must be rolling over in his grave…enough said time for action…
As much as I want to understand the parents, unfortunately they have no business with the DA. A prosecution is between the DA’s office, the court, and the defendant, survivors do not retain the privilege of telling the court what to do or the DA how to handle cases that they went to law school and have years of experience in.
This article and the family neglects to acknowledge this and trust the system. The constitution and courts have layed out protections for the accused for years to the point where most of your enjoyed rights in this country only apply to you as if you are accused of a crime.
Dan Rogers- you sound as if you must have gone to law school and understand what it is to be an experienced D.A.. but that doesn’t give you or anyone
who say they practice the law under the constitution to ignore the fact that an indicted criminal shouldn’t be held to previous constraints. Clearly, she continues to
not understand how flaunting her presence in public
causes even more pain and insult to grieving parents of the child she so brutally took from them. For the parents to ask for the D.A. to reconsider freedom from curfews, etc. is understandable and necessary when the D.A. isn’t taking in words from the Prosecutor. You will never be able to speak or give an adequate opinion about a situation that to you seems about protocol and
about the system. These are young parents whose baby boy was taken from them out of sheer neglect and irresponsibility. By allowing this perpetrator to break the agreed rules of a restraining order the first time means abiding by by the law is not a priority for this D.A. and Court. Shame on them.
the full extent of injury this person’s presence is causing Frank Rodenbaugh, Jr.’s
Trust the system? Don’t have to look far to see how many people have done that only to find an egregious lack of justice.
These parents are trying to take care of their child in the only way they can now. And you can’t understand? Maybe you could try harder.
Dan Rogers- your statements are simply egregious. Communication is not that difficult! An update, what’s going on, why is this taking so long? Very reasonable questions from a mother and father whose child was taken from them in such a cruel way. They are the victims as well as their child and the DA’s office should be reaching out…. After all don’t they work for the people? Why was she allowed to go off island for a sporting event? Enforcement of a curfew seems like a very reasonable request to me and if the judge did not have the proper information when making the decision then shame on the system!